ORGANIZATION LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS

For student organization leadership and ethics programs, contact USC LEAD (213.740.1477) or the Peer Leadership Consultants (stuacts@usc.edu, 213.740.5341), both located in the Center for Student Involvement (Topping Student Center lower level).

Ethics and Organizational Management

Within Your Organization

Keep an open communication line with all organization members. Organization members should be clear as to what their role is and what is expected of them as well as what they might gain from participating in the organization.

The president is not the organization's boss, rather he/she can be looked upon as the spokesperson or facilitator of the group.

Never ask an organization member to do something that you would not be willing to do yourself.

All roles should be rotated between organization members so that the members do not experience burnout, boredom, or dissension.

"Fringe benefits" given to the organization, such as t-shirts, need to be fairly distributed.

Always give plenty of warning as to when and where all organization meetings and event are being held, and have a "phone tree” or “email tree" to remind members to come to the meetings.

Treat all members equally, even if some members are personal friends or someone you do not know.

The organization is not only a social club. Hold your meetings in an organized and systematic manner with an agenda. Make sure you allow a period for all organization members to express their views and volunteer their time and talent. Meetings can be more interesting and productive if you start off with an ice-breaker or something fun, but nothing too time consuming.

When explaining how to do a task, think of yourself as a new member with no experience and try to explain the task clearly and allow for questions. If it is too complex, ask to meet after the meeting for more explanation and involve all the members in learning the task.

With Outside Organizations

The image you portray to outside organizations is very important. You are representing not only your organization, but also the University of Southern California.  If you deal with an outside organization in an ethical manner, you will help all future organizations with their dealing with that agency.

Never offer another organization or department's services in a co-sponsorship agreement without first consulting that organization or department.  If another student organization contacts you about a possible co-sponsorship, give them an answer with an explanation as soon as possible. This will allow the other organization time to either start working with you or find another co-sponsor.

If you are doing any publicity or promotion, follow all university departments’ policies and procedures. The rules apply to everyone, and if one organization violates the rules, everyone suffers.

Remember that everyone has a deadline for completing their work. Allow for plenty of leeway when turning in requests to all other university departments, outside agencies, and for your publicity and technical requests.

Framework for Ethical Decision Making

The following is a framework in which leaders should make decisions. Understanding how ethical decisions are processed will help you make the best decisions for yourself and your organization.

• Begin with the desire to do the right thing
• Clarify your options
• Consider risks and benefits
• Advance ethical values
• Make a judgment
• Implement to maximize benefits and minimize risks
• Monitor and modify

Bottom line considerations:

• Can I live with this decision?
• Is my action doing more good than harm?
• Am I using excuses to justify my behavior?
• Am I proud of this decision?
• Would I be comfortable if this decision was on Headline News?

 Adapted from the LeaderShape Institute

Leadership in Student Organizations

What is leadership? It is a term we have difficulty defining because it involves many different things. One  common definition is:

“Leadership is getting things done through people who are motivated by a vision or common goal.”

In many ways, leadership is the ability to understand humanity, and through that understanding be able to make things happen. The first thing a leader must do is develop a vision and do an effective job of sharing it with the group. The group must also have a common goal. A common goal equals solidarity, direction, and commitment.

Although vision and a common goal are necessary to be an effective leader, many other skills are necessary to be successful. Some of these skills include:

Team Building - The process of producing from a group of individuals a more effectively functioning, productive and cohesive team. An effective team is an entity greater than the sum of its parts.

Goal Setting - As a group the team must look at where they are now, where they want to be in the future, and decide how they are going to get there. By setting goals the team builds an identity for themselves and gives themselves direction.

Brainstorming - A method of generating ideas with the full participation of all group members. Brainstorming encourages creative thinking, making meetings more fun, stimulating, and interesting.

Delegation - If getting things done through people is the definition of leadership, than effective delegation must be the cornerstone of leadership. Delegation is assigning responsibility and commensurate authority to others to complete a task.

Motivation - Recruiting and retaining volunteers is critical to the success of your group. There are no tricks; motivation requires time, energy, and awareness.  You must develop an intuitive feeling for what is important to other people.

Communication - Communication is an extensive process. It includes being able to express yourself clearly, being able to listen effectively to others, being able to function appropriately in a group and more.

Relationship - To be an effective leader you must be able to work well with people. As a leader you need to interact with many different people, so it is important to establish some strong relationships with members, other campus leaders, faculty, and staff.

Decision Making - Perhaps the greatest challenge to any leader. Problems arise on a regular basis and you need to make decisions everyday. The challenge becomes which decisions do you make on your own, which do you involve a small group in, and which do you take to the entire group?

Meeting Skills - Things to take into consideration here include parliamentary procedure, creating an agenda for each meeting, voting and group discussion.

Leadership is a passion for what you do, a clear picture of where you are going, a fluid phenomenon that grows within you and an emotional expression of what you do. You get it from others, by learning as much as you can and allowing yourself to show your passion. You give it to others by living your vision, sharing that vision with others, doing things - not just saying things, and leading by example.  

Leadership Advice from USC Student Leaders

The following are quotes from respected past USC student leaders.  Their insight will help provide guidance to current student leaders and their organizations as they work to improve their USC experience and the Trojan family. 

“Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize!  Your time at USC is limited, but the opportunities are endless.  Know what top 3-5 things are most important for you to accomplish and communicate them incessantly to those in your organization (this also serves as a nice self-reminder).  If you don't, you risk losing focus and becoming swept up in an infinite number of other things, ultimately getting little accomplished.  This focus in leadership translates to college life in general - balancing schoolwork, extra-curricular, friends/family, sanity, etc. The trick is to take the time to figure it out prior to getting engulfed in all the madness!”

Jessica Lall, Student Body President, Undergraduate Student Government 2005-2006; President, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, 2004-2005; Co-Founder, Youth’s Exploring Passion, 2005

“USC is teeming with amazing, under-utilized faculty and staff mentors who are eager to get more involved in student life. Do not be shy! Ask a professor or a staff member (hint: start in Topping Student Center!) to be an advisor for a student organization or a mentor for a project. They'll help you navigate the occasional university red tape, offer new perspectives and opportunities and a bonus - if you're interested in what they're interested in, you'll gain a friend and guide for your years at 'SC and beyond.” 

Emily Fetting, Miss USC, 2005-2006; Senior Director of Communications, Undergraduate Student Government, 2005-2006; Orientation Coordinator, 2005-2006

“Take time to thank everyone you work with because most likely they are not "required" to do what they are doing.  Don't just take time to thank the administrators, but also your peers.  You'll not only build better relationships with everyone around you, but chances are a better reputation, too.”

Allison Trefz, Co-Executive Director, Troy Camp, 2005-2006; Director of Community Affairs, Undergraduate Student Government, 2006-2007; Anchor Splash Director, Delta Gamma Sorority, 2006

“I think it's important to find a work/life balance. Don't get caught up in pretentious bureaucracy, just be genuine with people.  Your peers recognize sincerity, and being genuine increases their level of respect for you as a leader.”

Gary Lee, Order of the Torch, 2006-2007; Orientation Coordinator, 2005-2006; President, Korean Student Association, 2005-2006

“Never do things just for your resume, or because you think you have to in order to be a campus leader.  Discover your passions and let them guide you as you decide how to spend your time at USC.  As a result, leadership opportunities will present themselves, and more importantly you will be much happier during your time at USC.”

Peter Barth, Mr. USC, 2006-2007; Chief of Staff, Undergraduate Student Government, 2006-2007; Manager, Center for Student Involvement, 2005-2006  

“When it comes down to it, always use your heart to make the toughest decisions.”

“It’s always better to lead by doing because words are so easily forgotten.”

Will Foley, President, Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, 2006-2007; Vice President, Interfraternity Council, 2005-2006; USC Tour Guide, 2005-2007

“Leadership isn't about knowing all the right answers - it's about knowing where to ask the right questions. Always have confidence and faith in yourself and the people around you even when faced with uncertain circumstances.”

Lizzy Paulson, Executive Director, USG Program Board, 2006-2007; Director of Special Events, USC Program Board, 2005-2006; Vice President for Programming, University Residential Student Community, 2004-2005